title: Socioeconomic status as a risk factor for dementia death: individual participant meta-analysis of 86 508 men and women from the UK.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Life-course socioeconomic factors may have a role in dementia aetiology but there is a current paucity of studies. Meta-analyses of individual participant data would considerably strengthen this evidence base.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between socioeconomic status in early life and adulthood with later dementia death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individual participant meta-analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies (1994-2004, n = 86 508).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Leaving full-time education at an earlier age was associated with an increased risk of dementia death in women (fully adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for age ≤14 v. age ≥16: HR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.23-2.53) but not men. Occupational social class was not statistically significantly associated with dementia death in men or women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower educational attainment in women was associated with an increased risk of dementia-related death independently of common risk behaviours and comorbidities.
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK. tom.russ@nhs.net
authors.forename: Tom C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Russ
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stamatakis
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Starr
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivimäki
authors.forename: G David
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Batty
mesh_terms: D003704:Dementia / Q000401:mortality*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology